A Primate Studying the Anthropocene

by Kelvin, Tsz Hei Choi, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Nestled within the soaring peaks and deep ravines of China’s Hunan Province sits Wulingyuan, a famed UNESCO natural heritage site which inspired James Cameron's Avatar (2009). Echoing the film's portrayal of empathy and the mutual understanding between humans and indigenous species, the wild monkeys here are also in a constant struggle with tens of thousands of tourists that flood the park daily. This monkey here stared at this foreign object left behind by his fellow primate with human-like inquisitiveness. What was the monkey thinking? What was going through his mind? Humans study nature, but in this instance, perhaps it's nature studying us.